Telescope.



No. 674,576. Patented lay 2|, l90l.

' B. A. HSKE.

TELESCOPE. Lpplicatian Had my 5, 1900.) (lo lodol.)

M N g 3 g q g 0M% @M, a. 913" "M M.

Attys.

UNITED STATES BRADLEY A. FISKE, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

TELESCOPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 674,576, dated May 21,1901. Application filed May 5, 1900. Serial No. 15,563. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BRADLEY A. FISKE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Manhattan, city,county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telescopes,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in telescopes adapted particularlyfor marine use. At the present tiineit isdiflicult to properlymanipulate the usual telescopes on shipboard,and particularly duringrough weather, with the usual accompaniment of high winds, since thecenter of gravity of the instrument requires to be sustained aconsiderable distance from the observer, making it, therefore, obviouslyextremely difficult to maintain the instrument trained on a definiteobject. Under any circumstances, except when independently supported, atelescope is a difficult instrument to use effectively, but under theconditions which exist on shipboard the difficulties are very greatlyincreased.

My improved telescope is particularly adapted for use on shipboard forthe reason that it is of such a form that its center of gravityismaintained very close to the observer, and the instrument can thereforebe held much more steadily than the ordinary devices.

In my improved telescope I employ a revoluble reflecting-surface whichcan be operated almost intuitively by the observer for maintaining theobserved object in view, making it, therefore, only necessary for theobserver to hold the instrument directed in the general direction of theobject to be observed and maintaining such objectin the field of visionby the manipulation of the reflectingsurface, thereby doing away withthe necessity of moving the entire instrument, as is now the case, tomaintain the object in the field of vision when used on an unstableplatform, as a rolling ship, or when the object moves above or below thehorizontal line from the telescope.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to provide an improvedtelescope which is compact and which will be always held close to thebody of the observer for the reasons explained.

In carrying my invention into effect I employ either a single tube,extending at right angles to the line of sight, or a pair of tubesconnected together at one end, either side by side or front to back andextending parallel the tube or tubes by the reflecting-surfaces, 6o

through the eyepiece, which is mounted at the upper end of theinstrument, suitable provision being made for the proper focusing of theinstrument and for the manipulation of one of the reiiecting-surfaces tomaintain the observed object in the field of view, all as will be morefully hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that the invention may be better understood, attention isdirected to the ac- 7o companying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of myimproved telescope in its preferred form; Fig.

2, a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the preferredarrangement of lenses and reflecting-surfaces for use with this form ofthe device; Fig. 3, a diagram taken at right angles to Fig. 2, showingthe same arrangement of lenses and reflecting-surfaces; Fig. 4, a

side elevation of a modified arrangement of double-tube instrument, thetubes being arranged front to back; and Fig. 5, a diagram of the lensesand reflecting-surfaces which I prefer to use with the arrangement ofdevice shown in Fig. 4.

In all of the above views corresponding parts are represented by thesame numerals of reference.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 1 represents 0 a main tube or body,which is made preferably cylindrical, of the desired length, and of anysuitable material, such as sheet-brass, suitably blackened on itsinterior. 2 is a smaller and shorter tube, having a telescope portion 3and extending substantially parallel to the tube 1 and at the sidethereof, as shown. The interiors of the tubes 1 and 2 are connectedtogether by a passage 4, as shown in Fig. 2. per end with an elbow 5,and the tube 3 is provided at its upper end with an elbow 6,

The tube 1 is provided at its up- [00 the parts being so constructed asto bring the elbow 6, which contains the eye lenses, at about the levelof the observers eye when the instrument is carried naturally in theleft hand of the observer, close to the body. Any suitable arrangementof lenses and reflecting-surfaces can be adopted, that shown in Figs. 2and 3 being preferable. 7 represents a reflecting-surface which isplaced at the angle of the elbow 5 and the upper end of the tube 1,sothat rays of light entering through the end of the elbow 5 will bereflected vertically downward within said tube. The reflecting-surface 7may be of any suitable characteras a mirror, for example; but I preferto employ a prism for this purpose, as shown, said prism being carriedon a horizontal pivot 8, which may be provided on the outside with alever 9, by which the angle of the reflecting-surface may be changed.Instead of using a lever for the manipulation of the reflectingsurface 7any other form of adjusting device can be used, as will be obvious.Below the reflecting-surface 7 I mount a usual objectglass 10, throughwhich the rays of light deflected by the surface 7 are caused to pass.At the bottom of the tube 1 I employ a second reflecting-surface 11 forreflecting the rays of light horizontally through the opening 4 into thetube 2, and at the bottom of the tube 2 I employ a thirdreflecting-surface 12, reflecting the rays vertically upward Within saidtube. Preferably the reflecting-surfaces 11 and 12 are provided by asingle prism, as shown. At the top of the tube 3, in line with the elbow6, I employ a fourth reflecting-surface 13, which also is preferably inthe form of a prism and by which the rays of light will be reflectedhorizontally out through the suitable eye-lens 14 14 in said elbow. Itwill be observed that rays of light will therefore strike the surface 7,be deflected downward through the object-glass 10 to the surface 11,thence to the surface 12, up through the tube 2 to the surface 13, andout through the eyelenses 14 14, whereby the desired optical effect willbe secured, the arrangement of the reflecting-surfaces being such as toproperly reinvert the image inverted by the object-glass 10, as will beunderstood. The proper focusing of the device is effected by adjustingthe tube 3 within the tube 2 in the usual Way.

In using my improved telescope the instrument is sustained by the lefthand of the observer in a vertical position close to the body, theposition being that which would naturally be assumed if an effort weremade to hold any object firmly on an unstable platform. The object to beobserved is brought into the field of View by directing the elbow 5 inits general direction and is maintained in the proper field by adjustingthe position of the reflecting-surface 7 as the changing position of theobserver with respect to that object may require.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, a somewhat similar arrangement is used,except that the tube 15, which is connected at its lower end to thebottom of a smaller sectional or telescopic tube 16, is arranged infront thereof instead of at its side. With this modification the tubes15 and 16 are shown as being long enough to enable the instrument to besupported on the deck or other platform directlyin front of theobserver, the tube 15 being provided with a handle 17, by which thedevice may be properly manipulated. Since the tubes 15 and 16 are placedfront to back the system of reflecting-surfaces and lenses requires onlyto be so placed as to reflect the image in a single plane, andconsequently the same arrangement of these elements can be employed asin Fig. 3, except as shown in Fig. 5. The deflecting-surfaces 11 and 12are placed parallel with the primary light-rays instead of at rightangles thereto. In this arrangement I illustrate an erecting-prism 18,interposed between the reflecting-surface 13 and the eye-lenses 14, forthe purpose of reinverting the image. Any well known optical equivalentfor an erecting-prism can be employed for this purpose.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tocover by Letters Patent, is asfollows:

1. An improved self-contained, portable telescope or analogous opticaldevice comprising a pair of connected parallel tubes, con-.

nected at their lower ends and communicating with each other at theirlower ends, a reflector carried by one of said tubes near its upper endfor receiving approximately horizontal light-rays and deflecting themdownward within said tube, an eyepiece connected to the correspondingend of theother tube, an objective, means for causing the light-raysdeflected by the reflector to enter the eyepiece, whereby the instrumentwill be maintained in a vertical position in observing a horizontalfield, and means for manually adjusting the inclination of thereflector, substantially as set forth.

2. An improved self -contained, portable telescope or similar opticaldevice comprising a pair of parallel tubes connected together near theirlower ends and communicating directly with each other, a reflector nearthe upper end of one of said tubes for receiving approximatelyhorizontal light-rays and deflecting them downward, reflectors at thebottom of each tube for deflecting said light-rays from the first tubeto the second tube, and up through the second tube, an eye-lens carriedby the second tube through which the said deflected rays pass, and meansfor manually adjusting the inclination of the firstmentioned reflector,substantially as set forth.

3. An improved self contained, portable telescope comprising a pair ofparallel tubes connected together near their lower ends andcommunicating with each other, one of said tubes being made oftelescoping sections, a prism at the lower end of both tubes, a prismnear the upper end of the first tube for receiving approximatelyhorizontal light-rays and deflecting them downward, a prism near theupper end of the second tube, an eyepiece carrying eye-lenses at theupper end of the second tube, and means for manually adjusting theinclination of the prism at the upper end of the first tube,substantially as set forth.

4. An improved self contained, portable telescope comprising a pair ofparallel tubes arranged side by side and connected directly together attheir lower ends, an eyepiece at the free end of one tube, an opening atthe corresponding" end of the other tube, a system of reflectors andlenses for causing lightrays entering said opening to pass in two planesthrough the tubes to the eyepiece, and means for adjusting theinclination of one of said reflectors, substantially as set forth.

5. An improved self contained, portable telescope comprising a pair ofparallel tubes arranged side by side, connected directly together attheir lower ends, and with connecting-bores, an opening in the upper endof the first tube an eyepiece at the upper end of the second tube, areflector at the upper end of the first tube, a reflector at the upperend of the second tube, eye-lenses in said eyepiece, a prism at thebottom of both tubes, an object-glass, and means for manually adjustingthe inclination of the reflector at the top of the first tube,substantially as set forth.

6. An improved self contained portable telescope, comprising aninclosing body, an opening in the same near the upper end thereof inwhich the rays of light from objects in an approximately horizontalplane may enter, a reflector behind said opening for reflecting the raysdownwardly, a lens or object-glass adjacent to said reflector andthrough which the rays pass, a second reflector at the bot tom of theinclosing body for reflecting the downward rays in an approximatelyhorizontal direction and in a vertical plane which is at right angles tothe line of sight, a third reflector closely adjacent to the secondreflector for reflecting the rays upwardly, a fourth reflector near thetop of the inclosing body for reflecting the rays approximatelyhorizontally and in a vertical plane which is parallel to the line ofsight, and an eyepiece for receiving the horizontally-reflected rays,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 1st day of May, 1900.

BRADLEY A. FISKE.

Witnesses:

JNo. R. TAYLOR, ARCHIBALD G. REESE.

